Successful growing of grass turf or sod on a commercial scale requires the covering of seedling grass with a special textile netting designed for this purpose. The netting is stretched over the growing area which may be many acres and is engaged with rigid members inserted in the soil at regular intervals around the margin of the plot. The inserting operation when carried out manually is extremely laborious and costly. Accordingly, it is the objective of the invention to eliminate this manual labor and reduce the cost of inserting the rigid members into the soil at regular intervals through provision of a simplified and compact self-contained automatic inserting machine which may be tractor drawn and can derive its power from the power take-off shaft of the tractor and from the tractor electrical system. Ideally, the invention is realized in a continuously moving machine which travels at a speed approximating 11/4 to 11/2 miles per hour and automatically inserts elongated rigid members into the soil vertically at a rate of twenty-two per minute which results in a uniform spacing of the members of approximately four feet apart.
The member inserting machine in essence comprises a wheeled frame adapted to be drawn by a tractor, a movable carriage on the frame adapted to move horizontally forwardly and rearwardly thereon, a member delivery and inserting mechanism and a member supply hopper on the carriage bodily moving therewith, and power drive means for the carriage and the member inserting and delivery mechanism including the ground wheels of the frame, gearing between such wheels and the carriage, and a single inserting power cylinder whose movements are transmitted mechanically to a delivery plunger for the members which are held in a storage hopper on the carriage. The inserting cylinder for the members receives motive fluid from a reservoir on the wheeled frame through a pump connected with the power take-off shaft of the tractor and solenoid operated valve electrically coupled with switches in a control box on the wheeled frame. Cooperative timing switches and an electrical clutch initiating and terminating rearward carriage movement and provided.
Additional features and advantages of the invention over the known prior art will become apparent during the course of the following description.